“Hello Sai! Did you enjoy school today?” I asked my little niece. My usual chirpy little one was unusually quiet. I repeated the question again and hugged her warmly. Her bright eyes turned moist. I wondered what could have gone wrong. I coaxed her to share her feelings. Slowly…Sai shared her rather unsolvable problem. “Chitti, I don’t want to study in this school”. I was taken aback. “Why kanna?” I questioned her.
“They have changed my section Chitti”. “Oh! But why?” I asked her. She replied very softly…gazing at me, “coz…Mom teaches my section…”
Definitely, this was a big problem for a 7 year old. I could understand her predicament. Apparently, my sister joined the same school as a teacher that academic year. She was assigned to teach her daughter’s section. It was a very tricky situation for my sister. How will she handle her daughter in her class? Won’t she be biased? Won’t she have a soft corner towards her lil one? As these thoughts crossed my mind, my sister hugged her little daughter comforting her.
Tears trickled down wetting Sai’s clear face. She was upset because she would miss her friends…specially Sanjana and Nikhila…with whom she studied, played, ate lunch, and did every other girlish act that children of her age would normally do. She had known them for two years now…and moving to a new section for no fault of hers made her feel disappointed.
We tried to put ourselves in lil Sai’s position and imagined how we would have reacted. What would we have done? Made new friends…adjusted to new teachers…new time table…new bench…new chair???
We soothed and comforted her by saying that she would very soon get adjusted to her new class and make many more friends. She was obstinate and wanted to belong to her old section. We noticed that she was engrossed in some deep thought! Probably, her child-brain was looking for a solution. Suddenly she screamed looking at my sister, “I want to call you Mom and not Mam! Isn’t it possible for you to teach the other section?” She reasoned out a very good point. My sister consoled her saying that this was not possible as the entire time-table was already set. A change now would put the planned time-table topsy-turvy. “Oh…ok….” she tearfully accepted. Sai too was in a no less topsy-turvy situation.
After few silent moments, she questioned again, “Mom, why not shift Sanjana and Nikhila too to the new section? That way…we will be together again!” My sister smiled at the child-like solution, wondered for a few moments, and then replied, “No deary…the strength of the two sections is balanced now. Moreover, Principal Madam would not agree to shift them to another section.” She hoped that this reason would make her understand.
And…of course it did! After a week, I asked Sai, “Are you enjoying school?” With bright twinkling eyes, Sai exclaimed, “Yes! Chitti, you know what…I discussed this problem with Sanju and Nikki. They were upset first. Later, we arrived at a simple solution.” I was getting curious to know how the lil ones had managed to solve the problem. “What is that simple solution my dear?” I questioned her. This is what she said, “We have decided to remain close friends. Although, I have been moved to a new section, we will meet each other as much as possible in break-time and at lunch time. We will continue doing things that we used to do…but for shorter periods now. We have also decided to visit each other’s houses more often.”
I was thrilled to hear her simple answer. My sister was equally delighted with the solution arrived at by her tiny daughter and friends. The trio tactfully worked around the problem…and did not get into it. We were astonished by their maturity at such a young age. What we thought was unsolvable was solved by them in their own simple and childish way. Sometimes, it is better to remain a child-at-heart and think in a child-like manner!
Finally, Sai ecstatically squeaked looking at my sister, “I need to call you only Mom…and not Mam…anymore!” We all had a hearty laugh!!!
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